Lydney is a small town on the Severn estuary at the southern edge of the Forest of Dean, with the Lydney Harbour and the ancient Lydney Park estate nearby. The Forest of Dean sweet-chestnut coppice to the north and the Severn estuary saltmarsh to the south give local hives a distinctive forage profile unlike anywhere else in the county — sea lavender and sea aster in August on the estuary banks, followed by a long ivy flow on the sheltered Forest lanes into October.
Collectors regularly attend swarms in the sweet-chestnut and oak woodland margins north of the town, in the old orchard and walled garden boundaries of the Lydney Park estate fringe, along the saltmarsh and mudflat vegetation of the Severn estuary at Lydney Harbour, and in the chimney stacks and eaves of the Victorian and inter-war terraces of the town centre.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
GL15 6BS· approx. 2 km
Visit websiteBS32 4PG· approx. 16 km
Visit websiteGL18 1BD· approx. 24 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
The Cotswolds give early blackthorn and hawthorn on drystone hedges, with limestone grassland herbs later. The Severn Vale brings oilseed rape, horse chestnut and hawthorn in the valley pastures. The Forest of Dean is the country flavour — sweet-chestnut coppice, holly, bilberry and a late heather patch on the upper heaths. Bramble is universal; lime and sycamore dominate the June streets of Cheltenham, Gloucester and Stroud. A reliable autumn ivy flow on stone-walled churches carries hives into October.
More on beekeeping in GloucestershireReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
